Ever since the discovery of degeneracy of ground states in constrained, disordered systems obeying the so-called ice rule [1]}, [2]}, [3]} and their subsequent experimental implementation in magnetic systems called Spin Ices [4]}, there has been an active interest in frustrated materials.
Recently, the idea has been extended both theoretically and experimentally to artificial realizations called artificial spin ices (ASI) [5]} which have allowed for design of frustration to generate exotic behaviors in their collective physics. ASIs are arrays of interacting, shape-anisotropic nano-islands, each of which can be modeled as a binary Ising spin. They can be characterized directly in real time and real space via a variety of techniques [6]}, [7]}, [8]}.
